Analysis of Conservation Practice Effectiveness and Producer Adoption

Behavior in the Jordan Lake Watershed, NC

Deanna Osmond, Dan Line, and Caela O’ConnellNC State University

Dana Hoag, Mazdak Arabi, Ali Tasdighi, and Marzieh MottalebiColorado State University

Greensboro

Chapel Hill

Durham

Burlington

Jordan Lake

Reidsville

Map Produced: R. Austin, D.Osmond

Jordan Lake Watershed

0 10 205 Miles

North Carolina State UniversityDepartment of Soil Science North Carolina Stateplane, Zone 4901, NAD83 meters

2001 Land Use Land Cover

Landcover ClassCultivated

ForestPasturewaterWetland

Developed

Nutrient Load Reductions required bye state of North Carolina from the 1997‐2001 baseline period• Upper New Hope Sub 

Basin: 35% N & 5% P• Lower New Hope Sub 

Basin: 0% N & 0% P• Haw Sub Basin: 8% N & 

5% Phosphorus

Jordan Lake Rules and Land Uses

Trading: urban development reduces nutrients by trading with agriculture

The goal of Analysis of Conservation Practice Effectiveness and Producer Adoption Behavior in the Jordan Lake Watershed (North Carolina) is to add to the conservation effects knowledge base ofwatershed-scale impacts of conservation practices

on water resources and producer behavior.

Project Research ObjectivesResearch objectives:1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a

watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from pasture and cropland.

2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for conservation practice adoption within the two primary agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and ranchers.

3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical implementation and projected implementation of conservation practices, as well as potential trades.

4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of different strategies to traders in the watershed.

Project Extension ObjectivesRe objectives:1. Use the results of the key informant survey along with the 

Jordan Lake Watershed Committee stakeholders to design and target more effective mandatory nutrient management education to specific audiences that will be delivered by NC Cooperative Extension.

2. Use and evaluate electronic educational delivery platforms, such as webinars, to provide mandatory nutrient management and conservation practice training, as well as to provide information about nutrient trading, for hobby farmers, landscapers, and possibly producers in Jordan Lake Watershed and beyond.

3. Provide information on conservation practice effectiveness and nutrient trading to the Jordan Lake Oversight Committee, NC Division of Water Quality, the NC Division of Soil and Water, NC USDA‐NRCS, the NLEW Committee, and the general public.

Project Teaching ObjectivesRe objectives:1. Provide graduate students the opportunity to obtain graduate 

level course credits by participating in the development of extension and educational materials for stakeholders in the Jordan Lake Basin.

2. Enhance course curricula for “Ecological Engineering Applications,” an undergraduate course for Biological Engineering students, and “Environmental Restoration Implementation,” an undergraduate course for Agricultural and Environmental Technology students.

Project Research ObjectivesResearch objectives:1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a

watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from pasture and cropland.

2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for conservation practice adoption within the two primary agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and ranchers.

3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical implementation and projected implementation of conservation practices, as well as potential trades.

4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of different strategies to traders in the watershed.

Paired Watershed Study• Length of monitoring: 8 years pasture and 6 years cropland• Determination of treatment sub‐watersheds based on farmer 

cooperation• Pasture conservation practices: exclusion fencing and nutrient 

management• Cropland conservation practice: N management (corn only in a 3 

crop, 2 year rotation of corn, wheat, and soybean)

Pasture (C) Pasture (T)

Control and Treatment Pastures 

Crop (T) Crop (C)

Control and Treatment Croplands

Pasture Pair Crop Pair

Paired Watershed Study:Pasture Nutrient and Sediment Reduction

Constituent Average Nutrient Load Both Watersheds (kg/ha/yr)

Reduction Due to Exclusion Fending

(%)

TKN 5.3 48

NOx‐N 1.2 41

NH4‐N 1.3 64

TP 3.0 61

TSS 333 73

Project Research ObjectivesResearch objectives:1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a

watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from pasture and cropland.

2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for conservation practice adoption within the two primary agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and ranchers.

3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical implementation and projected implementation of conservation practices, as well as potential trades.

4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of different strategies to traders in the watershed.

Farmer Decision Making• 90 farmers interviewed • Questions open‐ended: described area farming systems, conservation practices, nutrient management, water quality, and willingness to trade

• 92.5% cropland farmers using conservation tillage.  Practice started over 40 years ago.

• 62% pasture‐based farmers using exclusion fencing.  Practice started in mid‐1990s. 

• Nutrient management is not viewed as a conservation practice.

• Disliked nutrient management training.• Most farmers were very negative about trading as they thought the development community should meet their obligations.  

Project Research ObjectivesResearch objectives:1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a

watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from pasture and cropland.

2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for conservation practice adoption within the two primary agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and ranchers.

3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical implementation and projected implementation of conservation practices, as well as potential trades.

4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of different strategies to traders in the watershed.

Watershed Data

YEAR 2003Wet Year

Adj R² = 0.71

Total Nitrogen (TN)

YEAR 2001Dry Year

Adj R² = 0.940

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 25 50 75 100

TN Loa

d (lb

/ac/yr)

Urban Land Area / Total Watershed Area (%)

YEAR 2001Dry Year

Adj R² = 0.790

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 25 50TN

 Loa

d (lb

/ac/yr)

Ag Land Area / Total Watershed Area (%)

YEAR 2003Wet Year

Adj R² = 0.75

SWAT Nutrient Delivery to Jordan Lake: Baseline vs Current Climate 

With and Without Riparian Buffers

Constituent Total Load (lb)Constituent Load per Acre (lb/ac)

Baseline(1997‐2001)

Current Climate NO RB

Current ClimateW/RB

Total TN Load (lbs) 36,623 58,899 38,405

Total TP load (lbs) 23,345 40,480 18,966

Average TN (lbs/ac) 0.82 1.32 0.86

Average TP (lbs/ac) 0.52 0.91 0.42

Project Research ObjectivesResearch objectives:1. Determine through water quality monitoring at a

watershed scale, the effectiveness of conservation practices at reducing N, P and sediment export from pasture and cropland.

2. Determine and compare motivators and deterrents for conservation practice adoption within the two primary agricultural communities in the watershed: farmers and ranchers.

3. Model water quality to assess benefits from historical implementation and projected implementation of conservation practices, as well as potential trades.

4. Determine optimal water quality trading strategies allowed by the Jordan Lake Rule and the acceptability of different strategies to traders in the watershed.

Marginal Cost of Buffer Installation Relative to Total Nitrogen Reduced

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

0.0 1000.0 2000.0 3000.0 4000.0 5000.0 6000.0 7000.0 8000.0

MC($)

Reduction (lbs/yr)

Supply (B‐‐>R)Reduction (lbs of TN)

# fields

Marginal Costs ($/lbs TN)

1 1 15510 ‐‐‐‐ ‐‐‐‐100 10 3271000 65 1,0117,233 1,227 8,916,834

6,000 lbs TN max

Project Extension ObjectivesRe objectives:1. Use the results of the key informant survey along with the 

Jordan Lake Watershed Committee stakeholders to design and target more effective mandatory nutrient management education to specific audiences that will be delivered by NC Cooperative Extension.

2. Use and evaluate electronic educational delivery platforms, such as webinars, to provide mandatory nutrient management and conservation practice training, as well as to provide information about nutrient trading, for hobby farmers, landscapers, and possibly producers in Jordan Lake Watershed and beyond.

3. Provide information on conservation practice effectiveness and nutrient trading to the Jordan Lake Oversight Committee, NC Division of Water Quality, the NC Division of Soil and Water, NC USDA‐NRCS, the NLEW Committee, and the general public.

Project Extension ObjectivesRe objectives:1. Use the results of the key informant survey along with the 

Jordan Lake Watershed Committee stakeholders to design and target more effective mandatory nutrient management education to specific audiences that will be delivered by NC Cooperative Extension.

2. Use and evaluate electronic educational delivery platforms, such as webinars, to provide mandatory nutrient management and conservation practice training, as well as to provide information about nutrient trading, for hobby farmers, landscapers, and possibly producers in Jordan Lake Watershed and beyond.

3. Provide information on conservation practice effectiveness and nutrient trading to the Jordan Lake Oversight Committee, NC Division of Water Quality, the NC Division of Soil and Water, NC USDA‐NRCS, the NLEW Committee, and the general public.

Project Teaching ObjectivesRe objectives:1. Provide graduate students the opportunity to obtain graduate 

level course credits by participating in the development of extension and educational materials for stakeholders in the Jordan Lake Basin.

2. Enhance course curricula for “Ecological Engineering Applications,” an undergraduate course for Biological Engineering students, and “Environmental Restoration Implementation,” an undergraduate course for Agricultural and Environmental Technology students.

Accomplishments• Demonstrated the effectiveness of exclusion fencing and 

nutrient management and will use reduction coefficients in state‐wide regulatory tools

• Understand farmers preferences for conservation practices and will work with extension on a different nutrient management approach

• Provided diverse stakeholders results on modeling and trading– Division of Water Resources has a better understanding that trading as 

a policy tool has limitations in this watershed and others like it– city officials also have a better view about agriculture’s capacity to fix 

“their” problem

• This project provides of model going forward on how to integrate disciplines and information and should be used prior to setting regulations.

Acknowledgements• Funding

– USDA NIFA (#2011‐05151)

– NC DENR, USEPA 319 pass‐through funds

• Technical Support@ NC State University, Soil Science Department– Wes Childres– Ashleigh Hammac– Rob Austin

• Farmers, and Soil and            Water Conservation  and extension personnel